Microsoft word new base 663 special 12 august 2015

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NewBase 12 August 2015 - Issue No. 663 Senior Editor Eng. Khaled Al Awadi

NewBase For discussion or further details on the news below you may contact us on +971504822502, Dubai, UAE

US: Millions Of 'Shade Balls' Protect LA's Water During Drought Lydia O'ConnorAssociate News Editor, The Huffington Post

Los Angeles can't make it rain, but it can shield its precious water with "shade balls" -- 96 million of them to be exact. For months, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power has been releasing the

black plastic balls to float on the surface of the 175-acre Los Angeles Reservoir in a massive drought relief project. The final 20,000 went in on Monday, with some assistance from LA Mayor Eric Garcetti.

By deflecting UV rays, the opaque spheres are expected to protect more than 300 million gallons of water from evaporating in Southern California's harsh sunlight every year. LADWP was the first utility company to use this technology to protect water, according to a press release from Garcetti.

"In the midst of California's historic drought, it takes bold ingenuity to maximize my goals for water conservation," the mayor said. "This effort by LADWP is emblematic of the kind of creative thinking we need to meet those challenges."

Besides slowing evaporation, the shade balls prevent sunlight from triggering a dangerous reaction between bromite, a chemical occurring naturally in groundwater, and the chlorine used to disinfect the water. When sunlight interacts with those two chemicals, Plastic News explains, the suspected carcinogen bromate is formed.

The shade balls also deter wildlife from contaminating the reservoir, shield the water from wind-blow dust and discourage algae from forming on the water's surface. City officials hailed the shade balls as very cost-effective. They run just 36 cents a piece, The Guardian noted, and require no additional construction or maintenance -- except to be rotated occasionally.




"Shade balls are a great example of how engineering meets common sense," LADWP general manager Marcie Edwards said in Garcetti's press release. "... As we make updates, we are mindful to be wise and practical with our investments. Shade balls are an affordable and effective way to comply with regulations, and help us continue to deliver the best drinking water to our customers."

Watching the shade balls cascade into LA's largest reservoir is also completely mesmerizing. Take a look at the photos below:

But the shade ball technology doesn't mean Los Angelenos can ease off their water conservation efforts. After a snowpack measure in the Sierra Nevada mountains in April revealed levels at a record low 6 percent of the long-term average for that time of the year, Gov. Jerry Brown (D) announced California's first-ever statewide mandatory water cutbacks, and those remain in effect.

Money could soon become available for bigger projects. Last month, California's two Democratic senators, Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, introduced emergency drought legislation in Congress, aimed at supporting other water projects in their dry state and helping poor rural communities that face severe water shortages.

Facts :

• The black plastic balls help maintain water quality by blocking sunlight, thereby preventing hazardous reactions with the chlorine and bromide in the water. (The shade balls also cut down on evaporation, though this is a relatively minor benefit.

• Black plastic shade balls have been used to keep birds out of water near airport runways, control vapors in industrial ammonia tanks, or stop water from evaporating at petroleum operations.




Qatar: Brazil terminal receives 1st Q-Flex vessel from RasGas Gulf times

Al-Huwaila is the first Q-flex LNG vessel to berth at the Bahia Regasification Terminal located on the eastern coast of Brazil. Al-Huwaila, the vessel carrying LNG cargo from RasGas, has arrived for the first time at the Bahia Regasification Terminal (TRBA) in Baía de Todos os Santos in Salvador, RasGas said in a statement.

The cargo delivered by the Korean-built Q-flex liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier, is the largest to arrive at Petrobras’ third and most recently-opened LNG terminal, RasGas said. Petrobras is a Brazilian multinational energy corporation headquartered in Rio de Janeiro.

RasGas chief marketing and shipping officer Khalid Sultan R al-Kuwari said: “The arrival of our fully-loaded Q-flex vessel at Bahia extends our larger ships’ reach to 56 terminals in 18 countries across the globe allowing for greater cost-efficiency for our customers. This is an example of RasGas’ flexible operations and we look forward to continue supporting Petrobras in meeting its growing demand for cleaner energy in the form of LNG.”

Petrobras executive manager for Gas & Power Marketing and Trading Rodrigo Vilanova added: “Receiving this fully-loaded Q-flex vessel at our Bahia Regasification terminal is an important milestone as it increases our capacity to receive larger LNG ships in Brazil. LNG is a key source of supply to the Brazilian natural gas market and RasGas is a strategic LNG supplier to Petrobras.”

RasGas’ integrated shipping fleet consists of 27 long-term chartered LNG vessels. The fleet’s variety of 14 conventional ships, 12 Q-flex, and one Q-Max vessel enhances RasGas’ flexibility to meet global demand.

About :- Brazil Bahia LNG Terminal

The Petrobras LNG Regasification Terminal in Bahia brings greater flexibility and assurances to natural gas supplies in Brazil, with regasification capacity now up to 41 million m³/day.

Petrobras added to the Brazilian gas pipeline network the first regasified LNG from its new Regasification Terminal, located in Baía de Todos os Santos, Salvador, in the state of Bahia. The Bahia Regasification Terminal (TRBA) has a regasification capacity of 14 million m³/day of natural gas.

With the new terminal now in operation, Petrobras’ natural gas regasification capacity has risen from 27 million m³/day to 41 million m³/day, equivalent to almost one and half times the capacity to import gas from Bolivia. The company is already operating the regasification terminals at Pecém (Ceará state) and Guanabara Bay (Rio de Janeiro state) with their respective regasification capacities of 7 million m³/day and 20 million m³/day of natural gas.




Norway Spurs Gas Bears as Troll Field Output Set for 8-Year High Bloomberg - Isis Almeida Mikael Holter

European natural gas traders have one more reason to be bearish: Norway is overproducing and output at the nation’s biggest field is poised to reach an eight-year high.

Europe’s second-largest supplier pumped more gas than forecast in five of the first six months this year, Norwegian Petroleum Directorate data show. Output from the Troll field is set to climb 23 percent to 33.5 billion cubic meters (1.2 trillion cubic feet) in the year through September, according to an estimate by Eclipse Energy Group, a London-based consultant.

Norwegian output is rising amid a global oil and gas glut that’s pressuring prices and cutting profit for companies including Troll’s operator Statoil ASA. Brent crude is trading close to the six-year low it reached in January, and gas prices in the U.K., a European benchmark, are at the weakest for this time of year since 2009.

“You can draw a straight line between Norwegian production coming in above forecast and revenue issues tied to lower oil and gas prices,” said Ira Joseph, executive director of international gas at Pira Energy Group, which correctly forecast last year’s slump in oil prices. “The more oil prices weaken, the more important revenues from gas exports become.”

Norway produced 56 billion cubic meters of gas in the first half of 2015, 8.3 percent more than NPD forecast in January. Output at Troll will rise from 27.2 billion cubic meters a year earlier to the highest since 2006-07, according to Jessica Gervais, a Norwegian gas analyst at Eclipse, a unit of McGraw Hill Financial Inc.’s Platts.




Gas Bank

While companies extracting gas in Norway need to obtain permits, they usually have the flexibility to ramp-up output to compensate for periods of lower production, Jan Bygdevoll, a senior reservoir engineer at NPD, said Friday. Output is increasing to take advantage of near-dated delivery prices that have been higher than those for next summer, Eclipse’s Gervais said.

“Troll typically has an annual production permit of 30 billion cubic meters a year, but it also has a ‘bank’ of unused gas from previous years,” she said. “This year, there is no price incentive to defer production until summer 2016, so Troll is producing at a higher rate and is on course to use up all of its ‘banked’ production from previous years.”

Statoil increases deliveries to take advantage of market developments, Sverre Olden Mala, a spokesman for the company, said by e-mail Monday. This can be done by increasing production or buying gas from third parties, he said, declining to comment on specific production forecasts for the Troll field.

Output Increase

Statoil’s average daily gas and liquids production in Norway increased 7 percent in the second quarter, after it deferred output in the same period a year earlier to “enhance value,” the company said July 28. Second-quarter profit fell 27 percent at the Stavanger, Norway-based company.

Norway’s output will rise 1.8 percent to 113 billion cubic meters in 2015, the most since a record 114.7 billion in 2012, according to Societe Generale SA and NPD data.

“We’re wondering whether we’ll be able to top the highest deliveries that we’ve had,” Kjell Larsen, a spokesman for gas pipeline operator Gassco AS, said by phone Friday. “There have been few shutdowns, both in terms of production and transportation.”




Namibia: Hydrocarb Energy to acquire 2D seismic in Owambo Basin, onshore . Source: Hydrocarb Energy .

Hydrocarb Energy Corp (HECC) has announced that its subsidiary, Hydrocarb Namibia Energy Corp (HNA) has received a one year license extension and an environmental clearance to complete the 2D data acquisition portion of the Initial Exploration Period of its' 2011 Petroleum Agreement with the Republic of Namibia. In early 2013 the company obtained and analyzed legacy seismic which covered about 15% of its 21,300 sq km (5.3 million acre) concession in the Owambo Basin. The Owambo Basin is located in northern Namibia and extends into the oil producing country of Angola. HECC interpreted the seismic data and mapping confirmed the giant Oponono Prospect.

Consequently, HECC contracted Netherland, Sewell & Associates, Inc. (NSAI) to create an independent resource assessment. The NSAI resource assessment estimated 1.1 billion barrels of unrisked potential oil in place in the Oponono Prospect. Warranting follow on work, the company determined that it would be beneficial to the exploration process to fly a high resolution aero-gravity and magnetics survey over in the entire concession. That survey uncovered 14




additional leads that have a similar footprint to the Oponono Prospect and for which the company strongly believes merit additional seismic exploration.

Subsequent to the aero-gravity and magnetics survey, the company in late 2014 commenced an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) in preparation for an expanded seismic acquisition program. Hydrocarb also requested and has now received a one year extension with the plan to acquire new seismic data in order to high grade its 14 new leads into prospects.

The Company was also issued a clearance certificate on its' environmental management plan for acquiring the 750km of 2-dimensional seismic. All this work was a prerequisite to the seismic project as outlined in the Petroleum Law of Namibia and the 2011 Petroleum Agreement.

The CEO of the company's exploration subsidiary Hydrocarb Corporation (HCN), Chuck Dommer stated, 'We are glad to receive this environmental land use clearance, permitting us to move forward with a necessary license extension. This reflects a vote of confidence by Namibia, providing us necessary time to complete our seismic project. We remain confident in the huge potential in our concession blocks of the Owambo basin.'

ydrocarb Energy to acquire 2D seismic in Owambo Basin, onshore Namibia

Newly appointed 'HCN' President, Dr. Tobie Aupindi, commented, 'The African strategy part of our global vision is always to go an extra mile in carrying out the geophysical work. Sometimes the scientific data coming from the

geophysical evaluation dictates that we must

increase our expense and time on exploration components that were not part of the initial work commitment, but which can provide even better exploration results. This is exactly what we are experiencing in the Owambo basin and are excited to move forward.'

Hydrocarb Energy holds a 90% working interest in the highly prospective Owambo Basin concession in northern Namibia with the National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia (NAMCOR), holding the remaining 10%. Extensive geologic field studies were completed over the last four years supporting the existence of excellent high-porosity reservoir rocks as well as soil sampling indicating the presence of crude oil derived from a carbonate source.




Uganda shortlists 16 companies in first petroleum licensing round Source: Uganda Directorate of Petroleum

Government of Uganda has concluded the evaluation of Applications for Qualification from the 17 firms that submitted the Applications

Dr. F.A Kabagambe-Kaliisa, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Energy & Mineral Development, said: '16 of the 17 firms that submitted the Applications met the evaluation criteria as spelt out in the Request for Qualification document and will therefore proceed to the Request for Proposal stage of this licensing round. The firms were evaluated based on their technical competence, financial capabilities, legal qualifications as well as National Content and Health Safety and Environment track record.'

BLOCKS FOR FIRST PETROLEUM LICENSING ROUND OF UGANDA




The 16 successful firms are:

1. African Exploration Venture (JV comprising of Rapid Africa Energy Pty Limited and Africa

Energy SA Corp), South Africa

2. African Global Resources (JV comprising of Telconet Capital Limited, RT-Global

Resources LLC and JSC Tatneft),Russia

3. Armour Energy Limited, Australia

4. Brightoil Petroleum (Uganda) Limited, Hong Kong/China

5. Glint Energy, LLC, USA

6. MDC Oil and Gas Holding Company, LLC, United Arab Emirates

7. Niger Delta Petroleum Resources Limited, Nigeria

8. Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Videsh Limited, India

9. Oranto Petroleum International Limited, Nigeria

10. Petoil (Uganda) Limited, Turkey

11. Petrica Energy AS, Norway

12. Rift Energy Uganda Limited, Canada

13. SASOL Exploration and Production International Limited, South Africa

14. Swala Energy (Uganda) Limited, Australia

15. Tullow Uganda Operations Pty Limited, Ireland

16. Waltersmith Petroman Oil Limited, Nigeria

The Ministry will in due course issue the Request for Proposal and the Modal Production Sharing Agreement documents to the qualified firms to bid for blocks or a block of their interest after the mandatory acquisition of data in the blocks or a block through the physical Data Room at the Directorate of Petroleum in Entebbe.

The six biddable blocks comprise of the Ngassa (410 Km2) in Hoima District, Taitai & Karuka (565 Km2) in Buliisa District, Ngaji (895 Km2) in Rukungiri & Kanungu Districts, Mvule (344 Km2) in Moyo and Yumbe Districts together with Turaco (425 Km2) and Kanywantaba (344 Km2) in Ntoroko

District.




Indonesia: ConocoPhillips to seek buyers for its stake in South

Natuna Block B, offshore Indonesia. Source: Reuters

U.S. oil and gas company ConocoPhillips is reviewing its portfolio in Indonesia and may soon seek buyers for a stake in a production sharing block it operates in the Natuna Sea, company and government sources said. The company has proposed to upstream oil and gas regulator SKKMigas to open its data room for the South Natuna Sea Block B, the agency's spokesman Elan Biantoro told Reuters, noting that such requests were usu ally made by companies 'that want to farm out their participating interests.'

ConocoPhillips was opening the data room to offer its share to other investors, spokesman Joang Laksanto confirmed to Reuters. ConocoPhillips holds a 40 percent interest in South Natuna Sea Block B, and other companies with participating interests are Chevron, with 25 percent, and Japan's INPEX, which holds 35 percent.

Operating two oil and gas blocks in Indonesia - Natuna and the Corridor Block in South Sumatra - ConocoPhillips contributes more than 20 percent of Indonesia's natural gas production, 24 percent of its liquefied petroleum gas output and 6-7 percent of its crude oil production, according to Indonesia's energy minister, Sudirman Said.




Oil Price Drop Special Coverage

Oil prices slump further as China lets yuan slide Reuters + NewBase

Crude oil prices continued to slump on Wednesday as China allowed its currency to fall sharply for a second day, triggering concerns over the country's economic health just as oil production hit multi-year highs.

China's yuan hit a four-year low on Wednesday, slipping further a day after authorities devalued it to support its struggling economy and sparking fears of a global currency war. Analysts said they expected China's government to intervene further this year in stimulate economic growth.

"We believe the government will continue to ease policy to stabilize sluggish aggregate demand growth," Morgan Stanley said, adding that it expected another interest rate cut towards the end of the third quarter this year. A lower yuan erodes Chinese purchasing power for dollar-denominated imports like oil, potentially hitting fuel demand.

U.S. crude futures CLc1 were trading at $42.89 per barrel at 0457 GMT, down 19 cents from their last close which marked its lowest settlement since March 2009. Brent futures LCOc1 were down 31 cents at $48.87 per barrel, more than a quarter lower from their last peak in May.

"The Chinese Yuan continues to weaken for the second day which could suggest further weakening of oil prices," Singapore-based brokerage Phillip Futures said. "On top of this, OPEC's August 2015 report shows slightly increasing production." The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) said on Tuesday that its members continued to boost supplies. According to secondary sources cited by the report, OPEC produced 31.51 million barrels per day (bpd) in July - 1.5 million bpd more than its 30-million-bpd target.

OPEC also raised its forecast of oil supplies from non-member countries in 2015, a sign that crude's price collapse is taking longer than expected to hit U.S. shale drillers and other competing sources, and the group forecast no extra demand for its crude oil this year.




Opec supply reaches 3-year high as Iran pumps most since ’12 Bloomberg + NewBase

Opec pumped the most crude last month in more than three years as Iran restored output to the highest level since international sanctions were strengthened in 2012.

The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, responsible for 40% of world oil supplies, raised output by 100,700 barrels a day to 31.5mn last month, the group said in its monthly market report, citing external sources. This increase came even as Saudi Arabia, which often curbs output toward the end of peak summer demand, told Opec it cut production by the most in almost a year.

Oil prices slumped to a six-month low below $50 a barrel in London last week as rising Opec supplies, resilient US production and concerns over Chinese demand prolong a global glut. Iran may further expand output after reaching an accord with world powers on July 14 that will ease sanctions on oil exports later this year in return for curbs on its nuclear activity.

“Iran has been rising slowly but surely for a while now,” Abhishek Deshpande, an analyst at Natixis in London, said by e-mail.

“It doesn’t need foreign investment to revamp existing infrastructure and prepare fields, resulting in the small increases you can see now. But the bulk of the increase is expected once it becomes clear sanctions will definitely be lifted.”

Iran increased output by 32,300 barrels a day in July to 2.86mn a day, the highest since June 2012, according to data Opec compiles from “secondary sources” such as media agencies and international institutions. Sanctions to deter the nation’s nuclear research took effect in July that year.

Iraq, Opec’s second-largest producer, led gains in output last month, increasing production by 46,700 barrels a day to 4.1mn, the group’s data show.




The report also includes data directly submitted by Opec’s 12 members. In these figures, Saudi Arabia said it reduced output in July by 202,700 barrels a day to 10.36mn. That’s the biggest reduction since August 2014. A group total was unavailable for these statistics because Libya didn’t provide a production estimate.

“Domestic consumption in Saudi Arabia already peaked in June,” Giovanni Staunovo, an analyst at UBS Group in Zurich, said by e-mail. The pullback “might also be related to challenges in keeping exports elevated in an environment where other Opec countries also fight for market share.”

Opec increased estimates for global oil demand in 2016 by about 100,000 a barrels a day. World consumption will climb by 1.3mn barrels a day, or 1.4%, to 94mn barrels a day in 2016. The growth rate is slightly lower than this year’s projected 1.5% expansion.

“Crude oil demand in the coming months should continue to improve and, thus, gradually reduce the imbalance in oil supply-demand,” Opec’s Vienna-based secretariat said in the report.

Investor concern that oil could by dragged down further by an Iranian sale of crude inventories once sanctions are lifted is overdone, according to a Bloomberg Intelligence survey published yesterday. Iran’s stockpile of crude amounts to 20 to 40% of one day’s global oil demand and the nation will add less than 1mn barrels a day to crude supply next year, most of the survey’s 121 respondents said.

Opec boosted forecasts for supplies from outside the group in 2015 by 90,000 barrels a day, while trimming them for next year by 40,000 a day. Non-Opec suppliers will raise output by 960,000 barrels a day this year to 57.46mn a day. Increased estimates for US production bolstered this year’s outlook, it said.




Opec says cheap oil taking longer to subdue rival suppliers Reuters

Opec on Tuesday raised its forecast of oil supplies from non-member countries in 2015, a sign that crude's price collapse is taking longer than expected to hit US shale drillers and other competing sources. In a monthly report, the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) forecast no extra demand for its crude oil this year despite faster global growth in consumption, because of higher-than-expected production from the US and other countries outside the group. Oil is trading below $50 a barrel, close to its 2015 low after an 18% drop in July. But Opec has refused to cut output, seeking to recover market share by slowing higher-cost production in the US and elsewhere that had been encouraged by Opec's prior policy of keeping prices near $100. Earlier this year, Opec slashed its prediction of non-Opec supply for 2015, expecting lower prices to prompt a slowdown. But on Tuesday, it raised the forecast by about 90,000 barrels per day, following a 220,000-bpd increase in last month's report. "US onshore production from unconventional sources is currently expected to decline marginally in the second half of 2015 through year-end, while US offshore production is expected to grow due to project start-ups," Opec said. "Recent developments in the upstream as well as renewed oil price volatility have made forecasting non-Opec supply more challenging." US energy companies have been adding drilling rigs in recent weeks despite the price drop, and Opec in the report raised its forecast of US output in 2015 by 20,000 bpd. In March, Opec was expecting a fall in production possibly by late 2015 as drilling subsided. "Opec is starting to recognise the resilience of US shale," said Jamie Webster, analyst at IHS in Washington and an Opec expert. Oil prices fell after the report was released, extending an earlier drop. Brent crude was down $1.34 at $49.07 by 1434 GMT. Lower costs A reduction in the cost of oil projects since the price crash is helping non-Opec supply to compete in the market. "The Opec secretariat is indeed re-evaluating non-Opec supply's ability to withstand prices," said Samuel Ciszuk, senior adviser on security of supply to the Swedish Energy Agency. "Project costs have come down a lot and are continuing to fall, according to recent data. This is particularly so with regards to the US light, tight oil - which has provided most of non-Opec output growth, or in Opec's view the oversupply." Opec also said its members continue to boost supplies. According to secondary sources cited by the report, Opec produced 31.51mn bpd in July - 1.5mn bpd more than its 30mn-bpd target. With Opec forecasting demand for its crude will average 29.23mn bpd in 2015 - steady from last month - the report points to a 2.28mn-bpd supply surplus in the market if the group kept pumping




at July's rate. But Saudi Arabia, the driving force behind's Opec's refusal to cut output, told Opec it trimmed production by 200,000 bpd to 10.36mn bpd in July, down from June's record rate. Some Opec members such as Algeria are concerned by the drop in prices and want the group to reduce supply. Gulf members, however, have rebuffed calls for an emergency Opec meeting and show no sign of willingness to consider output cuts.




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Khaled Malallah Al Awadi, Energy Consultant MS & BS Mechanical Engineering (HON), USA Emarat member since 1990 ASME member since 1995 Hawk Energy member 2010

Mobile: +97150-4822502 [email protected] [email protected]

Khaled Al Awadi is a UAE National with a total of 25 years of experience in the Oil & Gas sector. Currently working as Technical Affairs Specialist for Emirates General Petroleum Corp. “Emarat“ with external voluntary Energy consultation for the GCC area via Hawk Energy Service as a UAE operations base , Most of the experience were spent as the Gas Operations Manager in Emarat , responsible for Emarat Gas Pipeline Network Facility &

gas compressor stations . Through the years, he has developed great experiences in the designing & constructing of gas pipelines, gas metering & regulating stations and in the engineering of supply routes. Many years were spent drafting, & compiling gas transportation, operation & maintenance agreements along with many MOUs for the local authorities. He has become a reference for many of the Oil & Gas Conferences held in the UAE and Energy program broadcasted internationally, via GCC leading satellite Channels.

NewBase : For discussion or further details on the news above you may contact us on +971504822502 , Dubai , UAE

NewBase 12 August 2015 K. Al Awadi







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Microsoft word new base 663 special 12 august 2015